Venezuela gets backing for U.N. council seat
Venezuela’s firebrand President Hugo Chávez took a major step toward securing a crucial bloc of votes for a seat on the U.N. Security Council Thursday after the 15-member Caribbean Community made it clear they would not support Guatemala’s U.S.-backed candidacy. A formal declaration of CARICOM’s support for Venezuela would come later, but leaders of the regional bloc meeting here said Guatemala’s long-standing territorial claims against Belize, a CARICOM member, made them oppose its candidacy. Full Story